


Of Pips and Suits

by AmateurScribes



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, the tags make it sound bad but it's really not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-21 18:25:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18145793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmateurScribes/pseuds/AmateurScribes
Summary: Playing card games are something that has stayed through the centuries for a good reason. It's a relatively simple and easy way to bond.And sometimes it serves as just a good distraction.





	Of Pips and Suits

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a gift for my wonderful friend hamsburger on tumblr, for their birthday! They challenged me to write something with minimal angst, so here we are now! This is un'beta'd so all mistakes are my own!

An unsettling silence had permeated the hull of his ship, a silence that he would normally covet, but not anymore.

This kind of silence only bore more trouble than if his companion had been in a more jovial of states.

Looking at his co-pilot seat, he noticed the quiet and distant expression on Captain Grif's face, quiet and soft as he said nothing.

It was unnerving as it normally was, Locus much preferred it when the SIM Trooper was rambling about everything and nothing all at once.

Glancing back towards A'rynasea's controls, he racked his brain on what he could possibly do to break the silence.

He had deemed it his responsibility to take care of the orange armored soldier, and if that included his emotional health, then so be it.

Locus had an idea, no matter how frivolous it sounded.

But then again, sometimes the simple solution was often the best one.

Getting up and out of his seat, putting the ship on autopilot before doing so, he was pleased to note that Grif had watched his movement. Good, so long as he was more aware than just quite then his plan would work.

"What are you doing," Grif asks, his voice quiet. "Do you need me to pilot the ship?"

It was a far cry from his more exuberant asks to drive, but just the fact that he was initiating a conversation was good enough for Locus.

"No need," he responds. "I am simply getting something, I've put her on a fixed course, it's not necessary for me to pilot at the moment."

"Oh," Grif falls quiet again, but Locus knows that he's curious at what he could be possibly getting.

Walking past Lopez who was focusing on a datapad, he reached a small storage container filled with his personal items, what few of them that he did have.

Opening it, he shuffled some things around, before finding what he was looking for and pulling it out.

The worn out box was faded and torn at the edges, and just looking at it brought back some intrusive memories of a different time, but he took with him nonetheless.

Closing the container, he showed the box at Lopez who nodded in agreement and got up, setting down the datapad in favor of following him.

They had gone back for the rest of Lopez's body a while back, freeing him from disembodied head status once more.

"A deck of cards," Grif questions once he sees what he's holding in his hands. "Why'd you get a deck of cards?"

"Because we are going to play a game," he answers simply, pulling out the cards, discarding the jokers and the rules card immediately.

"Shouldn't we be focusing on finding Temple," Grif mutters, expression darkening slightly.

"As I've said, the ship is on a fixed course," Locus chides him. "Temple may have escaped us before, but he's not getting any farther if I myself am driving the ship. Therefore, we're going to play a game."

It would have irked past Locus to know that current him was forfeiting searching for his current bounty in favor of playing a card game.

But thankfully, he is no longer that Locus.

Instead, he is a much more considerate person. Less of a soldier, no longer a monster, but certainly a human.

Grif looks interested, shoulders relaxing slightly as he asks, "What game? Poker?"

Shaking his head, he says, "No. We are going to play Five Hundred Rummy."

"Five Hundred Rummy?" Grif looks surprised at that.

"Yes, do you know how to play," he asks, in case he needs to explain the rules to him, whilst also shuffling the deck.

"Kinda," Grif purses his lips. "I used to play with my sister once in a while back when she was younger, but... it's been a while."

Nodding, he begins to deal out the cards, seven for each of them, saying, "Then I shall explain the rules."

Thankfully, the rules were fairly simple. To earn points, you need a straight whether that be cards from the same suit in consecutive order or three or four of the same kind of card. You had to pick up a card first before playing any down, you had to discard one to end your turn. To pick from the discard pile you had to take everything in front of it whilst also planning on placing it down within the same turn. To earn more points you could build upon other people's straights. Simple, easy.

What should have been a relaxing card game, quickly became something else.

As it turns out, all three of them were collectively horrible at the game, except at varying levels. So far, Lopez was the only one of the three of them who could manage to make any sort of calculated move.

He himself would hoard too many of the face cards and then he would eventually have to forfeit them to that damn robot.

Grif on the other hand, couldn't make a simple observation even if his life depended on it.

Picking up a card he looked at all of the cards in his hand, before deciding to discard the one he had just picked up.

"No deberías haber hecho eso," _you shouldn't have done that,_ Lopez said.

"Huh, why," Grif looked at him, then down at the cards Lopez had already put down before realizing in horror. "NO-"

Locus picked up the discarded three of spades before building it upon the other three's that Lopez had placed down a long time ago.

"DAMMIT,' Grif screamed, slamming his head harshly onto the dashboard. "NO FUCK. THIS ISN'T FAIR."

"La vida no es justa," _life isn't fair,_ Lopez huffs.

"Don't you fucking sass me," Grif growls, lifting up his head pouting.

Then five minutes later he preceded to do the same exact thing, discarding a card that had he put down would have prevented Lopez from going out again, with a scream of, “FUCK- NO I DID IT AGAIN.”

With it being Lopez's turn to deal out the cards, he decided to take a gamble in what had been otherwise a calm moment.

"How is Simmons," he asks, looking at Grif and ignoring the way that Lopez had momentarily paused in giving him his next card.

"Simmons is fine," Grif sounds dejected. "He's still mad at me though. Sarge too. They're not happy that we just let Temple get away."

"We've been over this, Captain," Locus starts to reprimand, but inwardly relieved at the response he had gotten. Today was one of Grif's better days it seems.

"I know, I know," he huffs, "It wasn't directly our fault that we arrived late. But they still think that it's my fault somehow. It's always my fault."

"Perhaps," he tentatively says. "You could ask Captain Simmons if he truly feels that way the next time you speak to him. You might be surprised."

Looking up at him hopefully, cards in hand, he asks, "You really think so?"

"Yes," he lies.

He shouldn't be doing this, he shouldn't be playing into fantasies.

But sometimes illusions were far more satisfying than grim reality.

And, he supposed it was fine so long as he was there to continue to take responsibility for the disheartened Captain.

A few minutes into that round, and a quick look at the scoreboard, Locus suspects that Lopez is going to be the one who will win in the end.

"How long till we arrive at our destination," Grif asks, carefully looking at all of the cards in his deck, and for once looking at what everyone else had as well.

"A few more hours," Locus answers. "I suspect no more than three."

"So are we just going to be playing cards until then," Grif asks, discarding the one of diamonds.

"If neither of you objects, then yes," Locus picks up a card, then places down three kings, deciding to discard the two of diamonds.

Huffing, Grif laughs softly as he says, "At least this isn't a game of Uno. God, can you imagine a three hour long game of Uno? That would be hell."

Having never played Uno himself, he can only nod his head in agreement.

Lopez grabs both of the discarded diamond cards, placing them down along with his three of diamonds. With only one card in hand, he discards it, effectively winning the round _again,_ opening up his hands to take the remaining cards from both him and Grif.

Locus hasn't lost this badly since before Chorus. He wanted to subject the robot of cheating but knew that that was highly unlikely.

Which meant that he was just naturally terrible at playing.

He scowled at the thought.

But now it was Grif's turn to deal, and he did it quick and sloppy, putting in a minimal effort to shuffle the cards. Which is how Locus managed to get two kings in his deck at the beginning of the round.

At this point he wasn't going to complain, he'd take what he could get.

During this round, Locus had placed down a five on top of the deck, and from the way that Grif's eyes snapped to it, he could see the wheels turning in his head.

But then, Lopez leaned over and took the card behind it, and by the nature of the rules, took the five with him.

He placed down a straight involving the jack, queen, and king of clubs. He was about to discard a card when Grif slapped his hand down on the table to get his attention.

"Lopez, look at me," Grif looked desperate. "Please for the love of everything holy, just look at me for a second."

Lopez tilted his head in his direction, obviously taking pity on his fellow Red, but not saying anything.

"We're both Reds, right," Grif gave the robot an uneasy smile. "So that means we've both got an obligation to help each out, right?"

Lopez still didn't say anything, and Locus had decided to just watch this play out.

"So please, for the love of God, if you just put down that five- I know you have it, you just picked it up from the pile- I swear to you that I will buy you whatever you want if you just _put down the five,"_ Grif looked down at the three cards left in his hand, sweating a little bit, making it known to everyone that that five was the card he needed to go out for the round.

Still staring at him, Lopez picked one of the cards out of his deck and placed it down on the discard pile.

It was the five of hearts.

"I could fucking kiss you," Grif said in relief, reaching over to take the five, putting down a straight of hearts, consisting of said five, followed by a six and a seven. He quickly discarded the ace of spades that Locus needed for himself. "Your cards, hand them the fuck over, _now."_

Dammit. He was hoping that Lopez wouldn't fall prey to the desperation of his fellow Red. Reluctantly he handed over his cards to the ecstatic SIM Trooper.

Locus doesn't even know why Grif was so happy, this is the first round that he's actually gone out on, and the cards he had already put down weren't even that impressive.

But then again, he just handed the orange bastard two aces, and who knows what Lopez was keeping hold of in his own deck.

At the end of it, Lopez was the first one to break five hundred, followed by Locus by a very close four hundred and eighty, and last being Grif with only two hundred and seventeen points.

He began to shuffle the cards again, seeing no sign of rejection of another game from Grif or Lopez.

All of this reminded him of a time when two different men would sit around a table and play cards with him, a much lighter time, even if it didn't differ too much from what he continued to do now.

But both of those men were dead. One had been blown off a cliff, rightfully, as punishment for trying to genocide a planet.

And the other had died with his wife and child when the Earth was destroyed by Temple's drill.

The same way that the Reds and Blues had been killed as well.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing five hundred rummy a lot recently, so this kinda popped into my mind as a sorta sad but funny scenario. I hope you all enjoyed reading!
> 
> If you'd like to contact me you can find me at either of my Tumblr's @agent-murica (main) and @amateurscribes (writing)!


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